Instructions

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  1. Weigh your flour; or measure it by gently spooning it into a cup, then sweeping off any excess. Mix and knead together all the dough ingredients, except the cranberries and orange zest, to make a soft, smooth dough. If kneading by hand, this will take awhile due to the amount of butter in the dough.

  2. Add the cranberries and peel, and knead for another 4 or 5 minutes.

  3. Allow the dough to rise, covered, for about 1 hour, or until it's quite puffy.

  4. Divide the dough into 20 pieces (about 50g each) to make mini brioche; or 12 pieces (about 85g each) to make larger individual brioche in muffin cups; or 2 pieces (about 524g each) for full-size brioche pans.

  5. Roll the dough into balls, and place into brioche papers, pans, or greased muffin cups.

  6. Cover and allow to rise until doubled and puffy, abut 1 hour.

  7. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F.

  8. Bake the brioche for 14 to 18 minutes (for small brioche); 18 to 20 minutes (for muffin-sized brioche); or 30 to 35 minutes, for two large brioche. If necessary, tent lightly with foil midway through, to prevent over-browning. The finished bread will be a deep golden brown.

  9. Remove the brioche from the oven, and transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Tips from our Bakers

  • We highly recommend using a stand mixer or bread machine to knead this dough; it's quite difficult to do by hand, given the amount of butter and eggs in the dough.